The book of Esther tells the readers that being submissive is so powerful that it can save a nation.
THE SETTING
- The King of Persia and Media boasted about his possessions and showed them to everyone in the government for 6 months.
- The King held a week long party for his friends and servants showing off his palace wealth.
- By the King's command everyone was to drink as much as they wanted. They could vomit, pass out, piss in their clothes... as much as they wanted - it was the command.
- The King was very drunk on the seventh day of his party.
- At the height of his pride and showing people his wealth, the King ordered his wife, who was the queen, to come to the party so he could show her off because she was so good looking.
- She refused to come.
- The king got angry.
- All the rulers were afraid this would turn into kind of a woman's liberation movement throughout the kingdom, with women refusing to obey their husbands.
- The king divorced his wife and took all her property away from her.
- The king set up a law for all the land - women must obey their husbands.
Setting Summaries
- The king was a vain man.
- The King partied in extremes, gloated in extremes, showed off in extreme, and had sex in extremes.
- The King was not a good example of a leader, husband, or a man.
- The queen's refusal to submit to the most ridiculous commands was viewed as a threat, not only to the King's authority, but to the authority of men everywhere.
- Men feared losing total control of their wives.
- The best way to deal with a disobedient wife was to send her away without possessions or a home.
CALL FOR A BEAUTY CONTEST
-The King called for young girls to be brought from all over the world to compete in a contest to be queen.
- The judge of the contest was the King.
- The King took each girl into his bedroom for one night of sex.
- After the one night, most of the girls would remain in the castle, have food and a place to stay, but would never again sleep with a man for the rest of their lives. She would be one of the king's many concubines.
- If the King liked a girl, he would call her by name and have another night with her.
Contest Summaries
Names were important to the ancient world. To be given a name was equal to be given recognition and worth. These girls meant nothing until they were called a second time to have sex with the King.
ESTHER
- Esther was orphaned and in her uncle's care.
- Esther was probably very young and won everyone's hearts.
- Esther was probably very good looking.
- Esther is portrayed in the book as obedient to her uncle in all things.
- Only her uncle knew she was Jewish.
- After a night or two with Esther, the King chose her to be queen.
MORDECAI
- Mordecai was Esther's uncle and guardian.
- Mordecai worked at the palace.
- Mordecai overheard a plot to kill the king, reported it, and saved the king's life.
HAMAN
- Haman was made second most powerful man in the kingdom.
- Haman was arrogant and demanded people bow before him.
- Esther's uncle (Mordecai) did not bow before Haman because he was Jewish.
- Haman requested for and received an order from the king to kill Mordecai and the all the Jews.
- Events turned on Haman and he had to honor Mordecai.
- Haman and his friends saw the turn of events as a portent of what is to come.
IN THE PALACE
- Mordecai told Esther to talk to the king on the Jew's behalf.
- Esther was afraid her husband may kill her for entering his presence without being called, but because her uncle refused to back down, she took her life in her hands and asked to see her husband.
- The king welcomed her and she invited him and Haman to a party.
- During the party Esther told the king that she was Jewish and was ordered to die with all the Jews.
- The king had Haman hanged and put Mordecai in his place as 2nd in power.
CONCLUSIONS
The Book of Esther tells a story in extremes and stereotypes. It is anti-Gentile in that Gentile men in the story are powerful, but they are buffoons, sexually permissive, and arrogant. On the other hand the Jewish servant and his Jewish niece are leader worthy and very wise (Esther's wisdom is found in that she listens and obeys her Jewish uncle and in that she is submissive to her Gentile husband).
Gentile women as demonstrated from the first queen in the story are brash and disobedient. On the other hand, Jewish women are very attractive, subservient, and catch the attention of everyone around them.
The book of Esther poses problems in that Esther (who is a fine Jewish girl) is given by her uncle to a pig of a man. Mordecai also protects the Gentile overlord. Esther becomes the wife of a Gentile man who has many concubines and who is recently divorced. These problems troubled the Jewish rabbis who read and discussed the Book of Esther in the ancient world, but learned how to fill in the blanks of the story in order to make Esther look better to them.
Part of reading the Bible is accepting it as it is and not trying to make it fit into our own molds as the ancient rabbis tried to do and as we often do without realizing it. This story poses a lot of problems. It is not a book to celebrate women's independence and individual power, and it is not a book to use as an example in morals. Most Christians would not want their children marrying anybody like this king who was an unbeliever, abusive (Esther feared going near him without being invited), sexually permissive, a glutton, and arrogant.
On the surface this book puts down Gentiles and demeans women; but dig deeper and we find that the Book of Esther celebrates God's deliverance of His own people by using very unconventional and powerless means. It reminds us that God is not limited to independent, take charge type of people. He can use the timid to move the hands of the powerful.
